The procurement and construction standards in Nigeria have been bastardised and are out of tune with international global requirements and best practices, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors has said.
It therefore called on the Federal Government to work with industry professionals to review the country’s procurement and construction standards in order to meet global demands.
The President, NIQS, Obafemi Onashile, made the call during the official inauguration of the institute’s headquarters in Abuja and its 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday.
He observed that the local arrangement called Bills of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation in the Nigerian construction industry was alien to international procurement standards.
Onashile said, “The World Bank and other international procurement reviewing organisations do not know this ‘Nigerian arrangement.’ It is not in their books.
“The government should denounce this and ensure that our national procurement for infrastructure is at par with global standards and should insist on bills of quantities.”
The NIQS president called on the Federal Government to establish the Construction Industry Development Board.
Onashile said the institute had submitted some draft bills to President Muhammadu Buhari for onward presentation to the legislature.
According to him, one of such was the Bill to Assure and Control Construction Industry Payments, adding that once signed into law, it would help curb corruption in the sector and give legal recognition for construction contracts and payment obligations.
Source: Punch
